Megafarms will be ‘free to pollute’ without new laws

Michael Gove, the environment secretary, has called for a review of tax breaks for farmersOWEN HUMPHREYS/PA

A rising number of megafarms will be free to pollute and plunder the environment unless the government enforces a new set of minimum standards, campaigners said last night.

Activists want a set of standards — environmental kitemarks — that farms of all sizes would have to adhere to included in a new agriculture bill.

Michael Gove, the environment secretary, has promised to pay farmers public money in exchange for public goods, such as improving wildlife habitats or repairing the soil, but the Nature Friendly Farming Network said that his proposals would leave the richest farms free to do as they pleased if they chose not to claim the new subsidies.

“Farmers who chose not to engage with future government funding can basically do what they…

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